With the excitement still strong following the announcement of Neo's upcoming EVM-compatible MEV-resistant sidechain, Neo's November endeavors  centered on establishing the sidechain's identity and fostering partnerships that came through or grew stronger during the Neo APAC Hackathon. Details about these and other activities throughout the ecosystem in November are available below.

🗒️ Neo General Updates

🎉 Neo Sidechain Naming Campaign

Following the announcement of a new EVM-compatible sidechain to Neo N3 in the works, Neo launched a naming campaign. The campaign aimed to tap into the collective wisdom of the Neo community to select a name that would aptly  reflect the sidechain's EVM-compatible MEV-resistance feature, while aligning with Neo's established brand narrative. A prize pool of $20,000 worth of GAS tokens was set aside to reward campaign participants.

Neo community members came through with more than 300 name suggestions. Across the end of the three-phase campaign, Neo  reviewed every suggestion,  narrowed the many strong choices down to the top 20, conducted a vote to select the top 5, and finally, unveiled the chosen name for the Neo sidechain: "Neo X."

The name "Neo X" signifies the fusion between EVM and Neo and is congruent with Neo's existing brand architecture, pairing nicely alongside N3. Campaign winners have received their rewards, and all of us at Neo appreciate the active participation of our engaged community.  

Meanwhile, during and after the campaign, the team at Neo has been actively engaged in the intensive development of the sidechain. As of the latest update, the pre-alpha TestNet for Neo X went live on December 29th. We warmly invite Web3 developers to join the early-access group to test its features. Find more details here.

🛠️ Neo N3 MainNet and TestNet Upgrade

Neo-CLI v3.6.2, released on November 17th, 2023, was deployed to the T5 TestNet on November 21st, 2023, and to the MainNet on December 4th, 2023. Gate.io and others supported the upgrade. Click here for details on the improvements and optimizations included in this release.  

🤝 Karat.club Membership

Neo recently joined Karat.club, owning a SocialFi space on the platform. This move places Neo among other notable projects (such as Bitmart and EthSign) that have partnered with Karat.club. In celebration of this collaboration, KaratDAO  announced a special promotion—a lucky draw of 25,000 KAT for 50 individuals who like and retweet the announcement tweet.

📈 New Perpetual Markets for GAS

On November 9th, Demex Exchange, a multi-chain decentralized exchange built on Cosmos, introduced perpetual trading for GAS tokens with the potential for up to 10x leverage.

📖 Inspiring Stories from the Neo APAC Hackathon Winners

In a comprehensive recap of the Neo APAC Hackathon, Neo proudly featured all of the winning teams of the Neo APAC Hackathon in a comprehensive recap article. The article aimed to introduce these talented teams to the Web3 industry and inspire the Neo community with a glimpse into the talented players behind the new projects that the hackathon attracted.

📽️ Neo in News

📰 Neo APAC Hackathon in News as Asia’s Web3 Trends

The Hong Kong Finale of the Neo APAC Hackathon, held at the end of October in Hong Kong, received extensive coverage from Forkast News, featured in the video between 06:46 and 12:10. The coverage also included an insightful interview with Neo's Founder, Da Hongfei. This coverage was showcased alongside discussions about Hong Kong Fintech Week and crypto regulations in various Asian and international regions spanning India, Singapore, Japan, Dubai, Switzerland, and the UK.

🎙️ Cointime CN Interview

Neo Founder Da Hongfei joined an interview with Cointime CN to field audience questions. He commented on the Neo APAC Hackathon winners, discussed Neo’s Web3 strategy in Hong Kong, and shared insights on what to expect from Neo’s EVM-compatible sidechain.

 💬 NGD Leader Shared Insights on Crypto ETFs

As January 10, the deadline for the SEC to determine whether to approve the spot Bitcoin ETF application approaches, this November Q&A with John Wang, Head of Neo Ecosystem Growth and Managing Director of Neo EcoFund, offers relevant insights. Here, Wang shares his thoughts with the Korea IT Times on the upcoming crypto ETFs and the convergence of the traditional and crypto markets.

🙌 Community Engagement

🎙️ Neo Community Assembly Discussion Ongoing 

In an effort to further disseminate the insights from the Neo Community Assembly held in October, Neo organized a follow-up, virtual  session. This session on Twitter Spaces helped  to sustain the collaborative spirit and drive for innovation kicked off in the face-to-face session. The recorded version is available here.

🌳 Ecosystem News

📈 Ecosystem Project Updates

Neo News Today compiles weekly reports on the progress of various projects within the Neo ecosystem. The reports cover a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, product updates, NFT/token releases, airdrops, and other market or community activities. Please see below for the updates on projects within the Neo ecosystem for the month of November.

October 30 - November 5: Neo Global Development, COZ, Battle Hardened, Supernova, Flamingo Finance

November 6 - November 12: Neo News Today, GrantShares, Pixudi, TOTHEMOON, Meme2Earn, Carrot Swap, FrankCoin, Flamingo Finance, Neo SPCC, COZ

November 13 - November 19: Neo Global Development, ITEM Systems, Meme2Earn, Forthewin Network, TOTHEMOON, Carrot Swap, Flamingo Finance, Rust SDK for Neo, COZ

November 20 - November 26: Poly Network, ITEM Systems, Meme2Earn, Flamingo Finance, COZ, Neo News Today

November 27 - December 3: Neo Global Development, Forthewin Network, Flamingo Finance, Meme2Earn, GhostMarket, GrantShares, Neo SPCC, COZ, AxLabs, Neo News Today